Local flavor key for FSU men's soccer team

While their classmates are stretching out the final days of summer before the fall semester begins, the players on the Framingham State University men’s soccer team are already hard at work on campus.

By Brad JoyalDaily News correspondent

FRAMINGHAM — While their classmates are stretching out the final days of summer before the fall semester begins, the players on the Framingham State University men’s soccer team are already hard at work on campus.

With only one week remaining before the team opens the regular season against Suffolk at home on Sept. 1, the Rams’ preseason is winding down as the team prepares for game action.

There is still plenty for head coach Dean Nichols — who enters his 13th year at the helm — and his staff to accomplish before the opener, including one more round of cuts which will finalize the roster. Even after scrimmaging Lesley University last week, Nichols knows his team will need every moment of the preseason to prepare, which will include another scrimmage on Wednesday.

"We have our first game on Tuesday and thankfully we still have a week because we’re not ready to go yet," Nichols said. "We’re scrimmaging with Gordon on Wednesday, which is going to be a major test. I think our first scrimmage, everybody that was healthy got in. Wednesday will be a little more of guys that are going to play some more minutes during the regular season."

After finishing last season with a 7-11-1 regular season record, FSU carried the No. 2 seed into the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) playoffs. The Rams’ postseason stay was short-lived, however, as the team fell to third-seeded Bridgewater State 1-0 in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

Nichols estimates this year’s team has lost roughly seven players from a year ago to either graduation or other commitments. Among those no longer with the team is Francisco Anzoategui, who started 12 games and appeared in two others as the Rams’ goalkeeper before graduating. With eight seniors on the team’s preseason roster, the veteran coach knows he will rely on two Milford High graduates, seniors Bryan DaSilva and Maycon Malta, to pace the offense.

"Having those guys back will definitely help provide some experience for our offense," Nichols said. "They are two guys who started every game for us last season and understand what we need to accomplish to be successful."

While DaSilva and Malta’s success on the field will be an asset for the Rams — with four goals apiece they tied for the team lead in goals a year ago — Nichols credited the two seniors for helping the program off of the field. With a strong crop of local high school talent to recruit, Nichols said the two former Scarlet Hawks played a vital role in recruiting incoming freshman forward, Luciano Veira, who is expected to make an impact at the offensive end after joining the team from Milford.

"Brian and Maycon have definitely helped recruiting," Nichols said of the seniors’ ties to Milford. "It’s not even just those two, other guys have helped. But with the local guys, it definitely makes things easier. I think we’ve had somebody from Milford every season since my first year, so we’ve had a strong connection there for many years. Those guys have always been real good to me and it’s helped with the recruiting process."

Nichols said he expects other freshmen to make immediate impacts for the Rams — including forward Jamie Plowman, who joins the team from Westborough, and Suhairu Kato, who is a midfielder from Lowell. After replacing Anzoategui in net once the senior went down to injury late last season, senior William Levitsky of Westford is expected to start the season between the posts.

As the Rams prepare for Wednesday’s final preseason scrimmage against Gordon, Nichols hopes that his team will build off of the success it had when it faced Lesley last week.

"I thought it went very well," he said in regards to the Lesley scrimmage. "We saw things that we definitely like from a lot of the new guys as well as guys who have returned and improved. The chances we created were excellent. There were way more (chances) than we got in any game for half of last season, so that is something we can build on."